Common earthball - Scleroderma citrinum
- The Foraging Course Company
- Apr 18
- 2 min read
Poisonous mushroom - novice Season - summer to winter Common names Common earthball, poison pigskin, pigskin poison earthball, pigskin poison puffball, poison puffball
Scientific name meaning: Scleroderma comes from the Greek Skleros, meaning hard, and Dermatos, meaning skin. Citrinum is from the Modern Latin Citrinus, meaning lemon-coloured
Habitat  The common earthball is a mycorrhizal fungus growing with deciduous trees, particularly oak, beech and birch. |
Fruit body  There is no discernible cap on the common earthball. It is solid and roughly spherical or oval shaped, like a potato. The skin is tough and off-white to cream at first, covered with small darker scales. The skin becomes a green-yellow as it ages and the scales become more coarse. It cracks at maturity to release its spores. It is usually 5 - 10cm wide and 3 - 6cm tall. |
Flesh, smell, taste and spores  Inside the flesh (gleba) is off white when young but darkens and becomes a dark purple-brown or black as the fruit body matures. A distinct white band from the thick skin is visible. Eventually, this dark centre develops into a mass of dark grey-brown spores. The smell is petrol-like or of burning tyres and the taste is unpleasant and rubbery. |
Possible lookalikes  The volval stage of Amanitas and stinkhorns could be mistaken for a common earthball. However, an embryonic mushroom would be visible upon slicing the universal veil to bottom. Small species of puffball, such as the smooth puffball (Lycoperdon molle), picture, could be easily confused with the common earthball. Edible puffballs would be pure white in the centre. |
Poisonous parts All parts of the common earthball are considered poisonous if consumed. In addition, inhalation of lots of the spores is believed to cause respiratory disorders Hazards This fugus is poisonous
Use in herbal medicine and medicine Thought to have some antibacterial and antiviral effects
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner Other uses None known at time of writing Importance to other species Provides food for invertebrates
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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